


To The Empty Shore

by magikarpsan



Category: Free!
Genre: AU, Angst, Character Death, Drowning, M/M, SO SORRY, Sad, Woops, au where nagisa doesnt safe rei, guess he doesn't actually know how to swim, haha....., hahha hes dead, im so bad, oh no
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-09-02
Updated: 2013-09-02
Packaged: 2017-12-25 08:37:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,670
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/951010
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/magikarpsan/pseuds/magikarpsan
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After Rei is caught in the storm Nagisa swims towards swim in order to save him, unfortunately things don't go as planned.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Water-Filled Lungs

**Author's Note:**

> Recommended: Get in a comfortable position to cry.  
> Thank you.

This wasn't suppose to happen. He was suppose to train hard during the night and catch up to the others in no time. He checked the weather.  
It was not suppose to storm.

Rei struggled to keep afloat. He kept his arms around the kick board given to him by the others during their training session. Waves big and bigger slammed against him and pulled him underwater even with the kick board in his hands. He was completely disorientated, his senses out of control.

His eyes were filled with salt water, his goggles off his eyes pushed off by the raging waves. The only thing he could hear was the ocean around him, the salt water splashing against the nearby rocks. He was tired and thirsty, he was swallowing too much salt water and he knew but he couldn't do anything about it.

Anxiety and panic began building up within him, his body's reaction to danger. The adrenaline was useless, the ocean looked endless and dark, no matter how much Rei kicked he was just brought back and down by the giant waves.

Eventually he ran out. He ran out of energy, ran out of want to survive, Ryugazaki Rei, for once, gave up. He was exhausted, couldn't move a muscle. Reislowly let go of the board, waves moving his relaxed body from side to side, pushing him deeper and deeper into the ocean. His lungs filled up with water, struggling to gain some kind of energy and swim to the surface he kicked with all of his might, but not nearly enough.

His eyes stung as he kept them open trying to reach the surface, his lungs began filling up with salt water. His lungs hurt, his head hurt, his throat stung. When he saw someone on the surface he tried reaching out and screaming for help. Nothing. No sounds came out of his throat.

Everything stung, every inch of his body felt like a giant wound being rubbed against with salt. His body began itching but he was unable to scratch it. His lungs felt like they were being crushed by tons of weight, desperately trying to gain some oxygen he inhaled but only water filled his mouth.

As the waves pushed him even deeper his eyes closed and Rei lost consciousnesses.


	2. The Sting of Salt

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nagisa finds Rei's body in the middle of the ocean and swims to the shore with it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is practice so it might not be very good! I'm not very used to writing sad stuff...

Nagisa jumped into the dark water, fighting against the strong waves pulling him back. He could barely see two feet in front of him, waves hit his eyes, the salt stung his eyes making them red and teary. No matter that the boy kept swimming towards the lonely kick board being brought back and forth by the giant waves.

Nagisa kicked his feet quickly and moved his arms as fast as he could impulsing himself forward. After swimming for some time, his muscles began to suffer, he was used to training hard, after all butterfly was a hard style to master, but he had never swam in conditions similar to those he was in now. Lighting and thunder raged across the sky blinding and deafening the young boy. Grey clouds covered the sky.

He stopped and floated in place looking around for any sign of the kick board or Rei. From the corner of his eye the blue board surfaced in the water but no sign of of te young man. Nagisa swam with all his might towards the position of the board and finally reached it. He put his arms around it, using it to keep afloat, resting as he could.

"Rei-chan!" He screamed from the top of his lungs and paid attention to the sounds around him, trying to listen to a voice that he would not hear.

"Rei-chan!" He screamed again and again. As time passed and he didn't hear anything but raging waves, tears began building up in his eyes.

The young boy told himself to be strong, that he was just imagining things, it was Rei, there is no way anything would happen to him. He was strong and knew everything there was to swimming, he would be ok.

He took a deep breath and dove down. He slowly opened his eyes, now bright red from the salty water, and looked around the best he could, trying to distinguish any kind of awkward color in the shades of blues and greens. His lungs stung as he turned around and swam up to the surface.

He gasped for air and rubbed his eyes with one hand, hanging to the kick board with the other. He looked around once more and spotted an object in the water, being pushed up and down by the sea. He left the board behind and quickly reached the strange object.

It turned out it wasn't a random object after all. Nagisa lifted Rei up and held him up. Placing the bigger's weight on his own body. He groaned as he looked around for the shore. When he looked behind his back he spotted a 15 feet wave about to crush them. He could feel the pull of the ocean around his feet. He kept his eyes on the wave as it pulled them towards it. As soon as it was going to come down over them he dove down, taking Rei with him.

The wave passed and Nagisa swam up, Rei in his arms.

"I'm pretty sure you're not supposed to put unconscious people under water." He whispered to himself as he swam with all of his energy to the empty shore. When could touch the ocean floor he stood up, put his arms around Rei's armpits and pulled him to a safe place on the shore.

"Right, Nagisa you've practiced this before, it'll be ok!" He placed his face close to Rei's mouth and nose hoping to feel some kind of air tocome out of his body. When he felt nothing his heart stopped, his mind thinking of the worst possible scenario. He observed the other's chest but no rise nor fall was evident. Quickly he searched for his pulse, none to be found.

As soon as Nagisa found that Rei wasn't breathing he put his arms above his chest and began pushing his diaphragm down.

"100 beats per minute, 2 breathes for every 30 compressions. 100 beat per minute, 2 breathes for every 30 compressions..." The younger kept repeating the words under his breath. With no one around and as tired as he was from the swimming he wasn't too sure he would last too long doing CPR.

"28, 29, 30." He stopped the compressions and quickly tilted Rei's head backward, opening his airway. He took a deep breath in and pressed his lips against the other's releasing all of the air. He looked down at Rei's chest for rising. He gave him a second breath and continued with compressions

"5,6,7, 100 beats per minute, 2 breathes for every 30 compressions, 15, 16, 17, Come on Rei-chan this isn't funny." He continued the cycle, barely stopping 5 seconds to switch from compressions to mouth-to-mouth.

Tears began running down his face as his arms pained him for more oxygen, he gasped for air as he continued giving his air to Rei. Nagisa heped that someone else, maybe Haruka or Makoto, would come by and help Rei and everything would be better.

Everything hurt but he didn't give up. "Rei-chan w-wake up come on!" His compressions slowed down, each less and less deep, his breath were shorter and sharper and his crying harder and louder.

It stopped raining. Sun rays broke through the remaining white clouds and illuminated the empty shore where Nagisa continued his actions.

Makoto and Haruka arrived running, briefly after the sun up.

Makoto approached the body and place an ear to it's mouth, searching for a sign of life.

"Nagisa," he placed a hand on the other's shoulder, listening to his whispering counts, "How long have you been doing this?"

"I-I don't know, hours maybe." He sniffed and ignored the pounding in his head, the exhaustion in his arms and the gasping coming from his lungs.

Haruka took Nagisa by the shoulders and separated him from Rei's lifeless body. Nagisa violently shook and kicked as he screamed, yelling to Haruka to help him save Rei.

"LET ME GO HARUKA!"

Makoto placed his ear on Rei's chest and heard nothing. He looked at Haruka as tears began streaming down his cheeks.

"I'll go search for someone, keep Nagisa- chan calm Makoto." He let go of Nagisa and pushed him towards Makoto, then he turned and with he same expressionless face ran the opposite direction.

Nagisa headbutted Makoto attempting to get to Rei's body but the other was solid on the ground and would not move. He took Makoto in his arms and hugged him, his tears falling into Nagisa's hair.

"Stop Nagisa please. He's gone OK? He's gone and we can't do anything anything about it!" Nagisa stopped moving, finally facing the reality of the situation.

"No...Rei-chan...He can't...He can't be dead!" He pounded against Makoto and cried in frustration, "Why!? Tell me why!"

"You need...You need to let go Nagisa! He's in abetter place now, you need to calm down." Makoto spoke, attempting to calm Nagisa.

"No! NO LET ME GO MAKOTO! LET ME GO!" Like a little kid the blonde boy hit Makoto as hard as he could trying to stay away from his grasp. "Makoto please! We need to help him!" His head felt light and his face wet, his nose was plugged and his eyes puffed.

"Stop it Nagisa, just sleep, you must be tired." Makoto cried silently, facing the opposite way from Rei's body, not wanting to look at the pale body. "Just sleep."

"But...But..." Nagisa felt numb, his whole body completely drained. Trying to keep his eyes open was impossible for him. As soon as they were closed he slipped away from consciousness.

Makoto kept him in his arms, still facing away from the cold body in the shore and he waited.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I love making characters suffer.

**Author's Note:**

> I am aware bodies float. He isn't being pushed down by the waves though, just a side note.


End file.
